7 technology trends that will usher in the automotive industry

Core tip: EE Times recently interviewed some well-known chip manufacturers that provide technical support to auto companies, and summarized 7 technological trends that the auto industry will usher in in 2014. Today, automakers are caught between the front and rear. on the one hand,   The Electronic Engineering Times recently interviewed some well-known chip manufacturers that provide technical support to car companies, and summarized 7 technology trends that the car industry will usher in in 2014.

  Today, automakers are caught between the front and rear. On the one hand, while constantly pursuing new automotive technologies (connected cars, advanced driver assistance, etc.), it is necessary to meet regional regulations (carbon emission regulations, fuel efficiency regulations); on the other hand, traditional car companies have to face Google, Innovative technology companies such as Cisco and Tesla.  The Electronic Engineering Times (EETimes) recently interviewed some well-known chip manufacturers that provide technical support to car companies.

Topics mainly revolve around 7 technical challenges that the automotive industry will face in 2014 and beyond.  1. Cars will be softwareized  For the center console and instrument panel, the most important carriers of in-vehicle information technology, automobile original equipment manufacturers used to spend a lot of time designing and manufacturing prototypes. Now, although car companies are still improving car technology, the process has become more electronic.

Using special software, the designer is able to modify the configuration of the graphical user interface and instrument panel, infotainment display in a relatively short time.  Danny Shapiro, director of automotive automation at Nvidia, said: Software implantation into cars not only changes the design model, but also changes the behavior of users in the car.  A recent global consumer survey conducted by Accenture Consulting Company of the United States pointed out that when consumers buy a car, the in-car technology configuration is twice as attractive to them as the vehicle's performance.

The next-generation new cars of many car companies will be equipped with in-car systems that can work more harmoniously with iOS and Android systems as standard. The competition between these two systems on the vehicle platform will reach a new climax in 2014.  So will automakers watch tech companies invade cars, or join the bandwagon? Different car companies have different choices. Perhaps next year, many car companies will release recruitment information for software designers.

Others will also look for what they think is the best solution to integrate smartphones with car infotainment systems.  2. Selection of the underlying platform of the semi-autonomous driving system  Nissan and Daimler announced this year that they will launch self-driving cars in 2020. Similarly, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, and Volvo all have related goals. And next year is also a crucial year to determine the underlying platform of semi-autonomous driving vehicles. The construction of the underlying platform will directly affect the design of fully automatic driving vehicles in the later stage.

  There are still some people, even most people still think that the realization of autonomous driving in 2020 is a fantasy. However, many car companies are already using practical actions to prove that all this is not just a dream.  In order to achieve the 2020 goals proposed by car companies, they must manufacture real cars in 2017, because a lot of road tests will be required in the following time.

  As the basis of autonomous driving, the research and development of driver assistance systems is also the direction that various car companies are currently working on. Its main functions include lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, collision avoidance system and automatic parking, etc. Vehicles equipped with advanced driver assistance systems can be called semi-autonomous because the driver is still the primary operator of the vehicle.

  For those manufacturers who propose to launch self-driving cars in 2020, the underlying platform design of the semi-autonomous driving platform must be determined in the second half of 2014, otherwise the above-mentioned goals will not be achieved at all.  3. Automobile software/hardware upgrade  Generally speaking, because the life cycle of the car and the electronic system in it is not at the same frequency, the update of car software/hardware has always been a very tangled problem.